I am so very sorry to read of Mr. Sanford's passing. My condolences to his family and especially you, Jeff, having been close to him and his voice on the Forum.

Freedom is precious and many gave their lives for it. It is the duty of the future generationto remember that sacrifice, and offer some sacrifice for themselves if Freedom is threatened.Cecil Earl Workman, WWII Veteran, "L" Co., 129th Inf. Regt., 37th Inf. Div.

Als heel de hemel van papier was en al het water ter wereld inkt en al de bomen veranderden in pennen, dan nog zou ik al de verschrikkingen van deze oorlog niet hebben kunnen opteken ! If whole heaven was made of paper and all the water on the world was ink and all the trees were pencils, even then i would not be able to describe the horrors of this war" (Hette de Jong)

Als heel de hemel van papier was en al het water ter wereld inkt en al de bomen veranderden in pennen, dan nog zou ik al de verschrikkingen van deze oorlog niet hebben kunnen opteken ! If whole heaven was made of paper and all the water on the world was ink and all the trees were pencils, even then i would not be able to describe the horrors of this war" (Hette de Jong)

Hello, my name is Dion and i am from the netherlands.
I wish to thank all allied soldiers who gave up their safety for our freedom,
a lot of you good men didnt make it in that war, i cant imagine what you guys have been through.
i hope you all have a peacefull life untill you pass away,
you deserved it.
if not for you guys i would probably speak german or be dead.
far ancestors of me where in the resistance and in my village there was a great fight over the railways, i knew about monuments in my village and went over them with a friend of mine a couple days ago.
since then it just kept eating away at me so i had to get it off my chest.
many men and wimen where executed or deported to mass destruction camps and we even have 2 war graveyard wich i hope to visit one day to honour our liberators and resistance members.
however not all germans are bad, some where forced to serve in the army or they would be executed for treason.
i got a ww2 era reichspfennig to remind me of what cruel deeds a man can do.
i hope Hickory Recon will have peace with himself and that he will rest in the peace he deserves.

This came today. It is the DUI of the 30th Cavarly Reconnaissance Troop (Mech). I found a place that could make reproductions of insignia and ordered 25 (the minimum). It took a little bit longer than I first thought since the first set that came 10 days ago were orange and not yellow, as depicted in the proof.

The company made good on them and I am satisfied. It is not as yellow as it appears in the photo.

Als heel de hemel van papier was en al het water ter wereld inkt en al de bomen veranderden in pennen, dan nog zou ik al de verschrikkingen van deze oorlog niet hebben kunnen opteken ! If whole heaven was made of paper and all the water on the world was ink and all the trees were pencils, even then i would not be able to describe the horrors of this war" (Hette de Jong)

Hello, my name is Dion and i am from the netherlands.
I wish to thank all allied soldiers who gave up their safety for our freedom,
a lot of you good men didnt make it in that war, i cant imagine what you guys have been through.
i hope you all have a peacefull life untill you pass away,
you deserved it.
if not for you guys i would probably speak german or be dead.
far ancestors of me where in the resistance and in my village there was a great fight over the railways, i knew about monuments in my village and went over them with a friend of mine a couple days ago.
since then it just kept eating away at me so i had to get it off my chest.
many men and wimen where executed or deported to mass destruction camps and we even have 2 war graveyard wich i hope to visit one day to honour our liberators and resistance members.
however not all germans are bad, some where forced to serve in the army or they would be executed for treason.
i got a ww2 era reichspfennig to remind me of what cruel deeds a man can do.
i hope Hickory Recon will have peace with himself and that he will rest in the peace he deserves.

I hope you guys dont mind me getting this off my chest.

sincerely Dion.

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I know no one minds and many are very grateful, Dion. It is a great quality that you think and remember thoughtfully about all the men and women who made the Allied victory possible. What a herculean undertaking that they were able to complete this epoch of history in such a short time, though it must have seemed like centuries to the men fighting and freezing.

" I have heard. You are the grey rider. You would not make peace with the Bluecoats. You may go in peace." Chief Ten Bears

The Ike jacket is from 1945, but worn by someone else. The insignia, awards, and badges are what Mr. Sanford was eligible to wear in Aug 1945. I don't think he ever actually wore everything depicted here because he separated from the Army two months later.

Very nice job, Jeff. Including his book is a nice touch. Did you have the case made, or was it purchased?

Freedom is precious and many gave their lives for it. It is the duty of the future generationto remember that sacrifice, and offer some sacrifice for themselves if Freedom is threatened.Cecil Earl Workman, WWII Veteran, "L" Co., 129th Inf. Regt., 37th Inf. Div.

I called that number a while back and it is no longer valid. I also looked up the associated names and those numbers were not active anymore, either.

Long story short, I called the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office in Houma and they directed me to someone who then directed me to this person, routing me through an office of governmental agency where he had worked before retirement.

I went down swinging hard.

To be honest with you, I think Mr. Marion got bogus information on Paul Prejean from the person he talked to in the 1960s. I don't think the Paul Prejean that Mr. Marion knew was from Houma, but rather he was from Scott, LA, which is near Houma (see below for more on this). When I called the Terrebonne Parish SO, the man they directed me to had been employed by the sheriff's office in the 1950s. He only remembered one deputy at that time who was missing a leg and his name was not Prejean.

The only letter Mr. Marion still has from the 11 months he was in combat was from someone named "Henry." He found it earlier this year, after the book was published, where it had been stored away by his first wife. Mr. Marion had been directed by higher-ups to destroy any personal correspondence, which he did except for the letter from Henry. Mr. Marion figures the letter was stuck in some other things and accidentally not destroyed.

In the letter to Mr. Marion, Henry mentions someone named "Paul." All three men (Marion, Henry and Paul) were in Paris at the same time according to the letter, although "Paul" stayed longer, which contradicts Mr. Marion's memory that Paul rode back to the front with him when their leave was over. This was in February, 1945, I think.

Marion remembers that Paul and Henry were brothers.

I have two separate rosters of the 743rd Tank Battalion, the unit Paul Prejean was reported to be in. Neither roster has a Paul Prejean listed, but both have a Henry Prejean, even going so far as to list what company he was with. One of the rosters also goes so far as to show that Henry Prejean was from Scott, LA. In that part of Louisiana, Prejean is a rather common surname. They just as well be named "Smith" when it comes to looking for someone.

Paul Prejean is one of the few names in the book that I could not get multiple confirmations of. I am not going to state the obvious, but I think you can gather what I am thinking, where memories are concerned.

I think I would be better off to let sleeping dogs lie.

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Good day Henry Lee Prejean sr. Was my grandfather and had both of his legs blown off and he work for the sheriff's department and lived just north of Scott Louisiana

I was able to visit some of the locations where these men died when Mr. Marion, Ms Peggy, and I were there in 2014. We were also able visit the graves of five of the six men who are buried in the hallowed grounds at Margraten, Henri-Chapelle and Normandy cemeteries. We were unable to visit Brittany American Cemetery, where Robert Seal was laid to rest, even though we drove to within an hour of it. Time was not on our side that day.

It was only after Mr. Marion died that I learned why he was so disturbed when we drove to where his friend, Edward Domkowski, died in the fighting around Mortain, France. It was a horrendous way to die and I am certain it affected Mr. Marion and the other men who witnessed it greatly. Domkowski was the driver of an M-8 that was hit by German armor on the road to Barenton, south of Mortain. The other members of the crew, Walker, Obenour and Smith will killed immediately, but Domkowski survived the initial hit, but was unable to climb out of the vehicle. He was hung up, partly in partly out as the vehicle began to burn. He called out to the other soldiers around to shoot him as the fire consumed him. He friends were unable to and he burned to death begging to end his misery. Also killed at the same location were Alec Blackwood, and John Kull.

We laid a wreath at the intersection of Rue d'Antoing and Le Grand Route in Gaurain-Ramecroix, near Torunai Belgium, where Walter Dennis, Frederick Haldiman and the "Finest soldier I ever knew" Francis Scott died that terrible night of September 2, 1944 in a case of mistaken identity. The HQ platoon of the 30th Recon were at the intersection, waiting on 125th Recon Squadron that was expected from that direction. Around 11:30pm, the sound of wheeled and tracked vehicles was heard from the west and several of the men stepped out to meet what they thought were friendly forces. The Germans opened fire them and in confusing firefight that followed, the three men mentioned above were killed and four others wounded, including the company commander, Capt Kenneth Cornelius.

I did not know that exact location where Dale Perry died on Christmas Day, 1944, but we were in the area and I wondered if we passed where he died as we were driving. I understand that he was badly wounded and could not be carried back to US lines and he froze to death.

I have a copy of a photo of Richard Lyczynski made mere moments before he was shot and killed by a sniper while talking to French villagers. He was a fresh-faced boy, really.

I also want to go to the location downstream on the Seine from Paris where Merlyn Castner bled to death after being shot in the chest by a sniper.

Finally, I want to go to the German village of Siestedt where the last three men on the list died. The German defenders of the village had raised white flags and as the men advanced to accept the surrender. The defenders then fired on the vehicle column, killing the three and wounding several others.

Included in those killed at Siestedt was Harold Works, a dear friend of Mr. Marion, who had predicted his own death 10 months before by saying he would die at the end of the war. Six days after his death, the 30th Infantry Division concluded offensive operations after taking Magdeburg, deep inside Germany, on the Elbe River.

Hello, I am new to this forum, but have been reading it with great interest. My dad, Arthur W. Fouts served with Old Hickory 30th Division, Mechanized, Class V. He never really talked much about the war to me, but when I would hear him talk to others, he spoke fondly of those he served with. I know he was able to go see some of his buddies a couple times to reminisce.

He brought back a few items, one a 30th Division Hardcover book, many black and white photos, a few German souvenirs which disappeared, and large maps of the movement of the 30th Division and the resistance they encountered.

I was wondering, is there still some kind of "get together" of Old Hickory members someplace? The more I learn about what my dad went through, the more amazed I am, and how much respect I have for all that served. My dad passed November 8, 1978.

PS. I would be interested in any links, books, or other information I may find of my dad. Thank-you.

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